A CORONER has urged the public not to buy alcohol for children after an intoxicated teenager fell to her death.

The plea follows the tragedy of 14-year-old Samantha Hall, who suffered head and chest injuries after falling from her upstairs bedroom window.

She and a friend had earlier drunk two litres of cider bought by an unknown adult.

At an inquest in Rochdale, coroner Simon Nelson said Samantha, a quiet and well-liked pupil at Hollingworth High School, would not have died if she had not been twice over the legal alcohol limit, in driving terms.

Curfew

The inquest heard how on April 26, Samantha broke a 10pm curfew enforced by her father since she was taken to hospital drunk in April last year.

David Hall said he left their Belfield Road house to find his daughter, who was at the end of the road. The pair then argued about the curfew before Samantha went upstairs and fell asleep, fully dressed.

Mr Hall said that shortly after the argument, he entered Samantha's bedroom, removed her trainers and put a duvet over her.

He told the coroner: "I spent the next five minutes watching TV downstairs and I heard a thump out at the back.

"I ran round to the back and Samantha was lying face down clutching a pillow.'' Mr Hall called 999 and then asked for assistance at a nearby pub, but Samantha died in the ambulance on the way to hospital.

Coroner's officer Ian Addison told the inquest it was "nearly mathematically impossible'' for Samantha to have fallen out of the window against her will, but she may have been reaching for a drainpipe three feet from the window.

Mr Nelson said: "Whether she was intending to take hold of the pipe I will never know, but it is fairly clear that she was in a situation that she had lost full control.

"We have heard a bit of the life and very tragic death of a schoolgirl.

Factor

"The person who bought the alcohol certainly has to take some of the blame.

"They know who they are, and they have a great deal of weight on their shoulders. Had it not been for them we would not be here today.

"Alcohol was the prime contributing factor. Perhaps adults ought to think strongly about how purchasing alcohol for children could affect them.''